Voltage controlled oscillator, receiver, and communication device

Abstract

 To reduce mounting area while satisfying basic properties, a voltage controlled oscillator comprises an SAW element (1), an amplifier (2), a phase shifter (3), a phase adjustment circuit (4), and an equal power divider (5) disposed in multiple layers of a multi-layer board.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a voltage controlled oscillator, a receiver, and a communication device. In particular, the present invention is preferably applied to a voltage controlled oscillator in which a surface acoustic wave element is used as a resonator to form a feedback circuit.

[0002] Conventional high frequency oscillators include voltage controlled oscillators in which micro strip lines and strip lines are used as a resonator. Unlike a surface acoustic wave (SAW) element that uses the piezoelectric effect of a quartz crystal plate, the voltage controlled oscillator using such a resonator can not be expected to have a large Q value.

[0003] On the other hand, the voltage controlled oscillator using an SAW element as a resonator has very stable properties of high quality and is, thus, a prospective candidate as a reference oscillator for communication networks with a transmission rate of several gigabits/s or more.

[0004] This type of voltage controlled oscillator is described, for instance, in JP-A-59-158106. Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing an exemplary structure of the prior art voltage controlled oscillator. An SAW element 201 and a 3dB-90°coupler 203 having a additional control part for changing the phase value within the oscillation loop depending on a control voltage Vc supplied from an external source are connected in series to form a the feedback circuit of an amplifier 202 for oscillation. Here, the control voltage Vc is supplied to the 3dB-90°coupler 203 to change the phase value within the oscillation loop and, thus, to change the oscillation frequency.

[0005] A voltage controlled oscillator having an output power divider besides the structure in Fig. 11 is described in the journal of IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium, pp 519-527, 1998. Fig. 12 is a block diagram to show the structure of this prior art voltage controlled oscillator.

[0006] Fig. 12 shows an SAW element 301, a variable phase shifter 302 for changing the phase value within the oscillation loop depending on a control voltage supplied from an external source, an amplifier 303, an equal power divider 304 for equally distributing the output from the oscillation loop and supplying it outside, and a loop adjustment line 305. The SAW element 301, variable phase shifter 302, equal power divider 304, and loop adjustment line 305 are connected in series as form a feedback loop between the output and input sides of the amplifier 303.

[0007] The loop adjustment line 305 is provided with a transmission line formed by a microstrip line. With fine adjustment of the line length, frequency regulation can be executed to make the phase angle zero after one round of the feedback loop.

[0008] However, the prior art voltage controlled oscillators described above have many structural elements and, therefore, require a relatively large number of parts. This can cause problems of reliability and increased cost. In particular, the voltage controlled oscillator in Fig. 12 requires many parts and a larger mounting surface area for the variable phase shifter 302 and equal power divider 304.

[0009] For the voltage controlled oscillator with an output frequency of several hundreds MHz, the variable phase shifter 302 and equal power divider 304 can consist of a lumped constant circuit, which allows a reduced size of the entire circuit, but requires many parts. For the voltage controlled oscillator with an output frequency of several GHz, the variable phase shifter 302 and equal power divider 304 can consist of a transmission line designed with distributed constants, which allows a reduced number of parts, but requires large mounting surfaces due to the length and size of the transmission line.

[0010] The object of the present invention is to provide a voltage controlled oscillator, a receiver, and a communication device, which have a reduced mounting area for downsizing while satisfying the basic properties.

[0011] This object is achieved by a voltage controlled oscillator as claimed in claim 1 and a receiver and a communication device using the voltage controlled oscillator. Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject-matter of the dependent claims.

[0012] The claimed solution prevents extension of mounting area and allows a larger variation range of frequencies for the voltage controlled oscillator while obtaining excellent frequency properties for the control voltage.

[0013] The mounting area can be reduced for downsizing in the voltage controlled oscillator in both forms of a lumped constant circuit and a distributed constant circuit.

[0014] Furthermore, a low insertion loss and low return loss are realized, which allow for minimized circuit loss and reduced output fluctuation, thus ensuring stable circuit operation for the load.

[0015] The voltage controlled oscillator, according to Claim 2 allows the stacking of the strip line and microstrip line structures for the purpose of downsizing as well as allowing a via connection between the strip line and microstrip line structures, which ensures efficient circuit geometry. A distributed constant circuit, which requires a large horizontal mounting area, can be stacked vertically for the purpose of downsizing, significantly reducing the mounting area.

[0016] The underlying strip line structure contributes to more ground layers and improved mechanical strength of the circuit board. The circuit board can be connected to and mounted on a main board through the ground layers.

[0017] The voltage controlled oscillator according to Claim 3 allows the strip line structure to share the ground layer with the microstrip line structure. A wiring layer can be added to the strip line structure to stack the microstrip line structure on the strip line structure. This prevents the increase in the number of the wiring layers and enables the provision of the microstrip line and strip line structures on the same board.

[0018] The voltage controlled oscillator according to Claim 4 allows the surface mounting of parts that can not be built in the board, such as an SAW element for the voltage controlled oscillator in the form of a distributed constant circuit as well as realizing a multi-layered transmission line, which occupies a large area. The voltage controlled oscillator can satisfy basic properties while being downsized.

[0019] The voltage controlled oscillator according to Claim 5 prevents a horizontal extension of the transmission line that is provided on the strip line structure, realizing a downsized voltage controlled oscillator.

[0020] The voltage controlled oscillator according to Claim 6 allows for efficient usage of the board area by simply changing the transmission line pattern. The mounting board can be downsized even if the transmission line is horizontally disposed in the board.

[0021] The voltage controlled oscillator according to Claim 7 allows the stacking of a microstrip line structure above and below the strip line structure by adding the fifth wiring layer. This also allows a via connection between the strip line and microstrip line structures for efficient circuit geometry, enlarging the mounting surface area while preventing the increase in size of the circuit board.

[0022] The voltage controlled oscillator according to Claim 8 allows the sharing of the ground layers above and below the center strip line structure with the micro strip line structures provided above and below them. A microstrip line structure can be stacked one each above and below the strip line structure by adding a wiring layer one each above and below the strip line structure. This realizes two layers of microstrip line structures and one layer of strip line structure on one and the same board while preventing the increase in number of the wiring layers.

[0023] The voltage controlled oscillator according to Claim 9 allows the stacking of microstrip line and strip line structures above and below the strip line structure, respectively, using only six wiring layers. The strip line and microstrip line structures can be via connected for efficient circuit geometry. This prevents the increase in mounting area and realizes a downsized circuit board even for a large scale voltage controlled oscillator in the form of a distributed constant circuit.

[0024] The voltage controlled oscillator according to Claim 10 allows the sharing of the ground layers above and below the center strip line structure with the micro strip line and strip line structures provided above and below them.

[0025] A microstrip line structure and a strip line structure can be stacked above and below the strip line structure, respectively, by adding a wiring layer above the strip line structure and two wiring layers below the strip line structure.

[0026] The receiver according to Claim 11 enables data processing with data transmission rates of several gigabits/s to several tens of gigabits/s while preventing the increase in mounting area. This also minimizes circuit loss and output fluctuations and realizes a stable receiving operation for the load.

[0027] The communication device according to Claim 12 enables gigabit network systems that ensure stable circuit operation for the load while preventing the increase in mounting area.

[0028] Embodiments of the voltage controlled oscillator of the present invention are hereinafter described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1

is a block diagram to show the structure of the voltage controlled oscillator of Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2

is a block diagram to show the structure of the feedback type oscillator of an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3

is a block diagram to show the structure of the voltage controlled oscillator of Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 4

is a circuit diagram to show another structure of the phase adjustment circuit of an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5

is a block diagram to show the structure of the voltage controlled oscillator of Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 6

is a sectional view to schematically show the structure of the voltage controlled oscillator of Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

Fig. 7

is a perspective view to show an exemplary structure of the voltage controlled oscillation in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8

is a top view to show the detailed structure of the third conductive layer in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9(a)

is a sectional view to schematically show the structure of the voltage controlled oscillator of Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

Fig. 9(b)

is a sectional view to schematically show the structure of the voltage controlled oscillator of Embodiment 6 of the present invention.

Fig. 10

is a block diagram to show the structure of the communication device of Embodiment 7 of the present invention.

Fig. 11

is a block diagram to show a first exemplary structure of the prior art voltage controlled oscillator.

Fig. 12

is a block diagram to show a second exemplary structure of the prior art voltage controlled oscillator.

[0029] In Fig. 1, an SAW element 1, a phase shifter 3 for changing the phase value within the oscillation loop depending on a control voltage Vc supplied from an external source, a phase adjustment circuit 4 for fine adjustment of the phase within the oscillation loop, an equal power divider 5 for equally distributing output power within the oscillation loop and supplying it outside the oscillation loop are connected in series as a feedback loop between output and input of an amplifier 2 for oscillation. The blocks are all coupled to each other with a certain matching characteristic impedance of, for instance, 50Ω.

[0030] The voltage controlled oscillator in Fig. 1 can be considered to be a feedback type oscillator in which a feedback circuit 6 is connected to the amplifier 2 as shown in Fig. 2. Here, the operation of the voltage controlled oscillator in Fig. 1 is described in which the feedback circuit 6 consists of the SAW element 1, phase shifter 3, phase adjustment circuit 4, and equal power divider 5.

[0031] When an input voltage Vi appears on the input side of the amplifier 2 having a amplification factor G, an output voltage Vo that results from multiplying Vi by G appears on the output side. The output voltage Vo passing through the feedback circuit 6 having a feedback factor β, returns to the input as a feedback voltage Vf (Vf = Vo·β = Vi·G·β). If the feedback voltage Vf and the input voltage Vi are in phase and the feedback voltage Vf is larger than the input voltage Vi, the positive feedback exhibits oscillation.

[0032] The following expression (1) should be satisfied for an oscillation in which the input voltage Vi has a phase θ_i, the feedback voltage Vf has a phase θ_f, the amplifier 2 gives a phase shift θ_G, and the feedback circuit gives a phase shift θ_β:

[0033] In the expression (1), the input voltage Vi should be in phase with itself initially input when it is fed back to the input after passing through the amplifier 2 and the feedback circuit 6. Thus, the following expressions (2) and (3) should be satisfied:

[0034] The expressions (2) and (3) define the phase and amplitude conditions of the oscillator, respectively. In practice, when the feedback voltage Vf increases high enough to saturate the output voltage Vo of the amplifier, it reaches a steady state in which G·β = 1. With the voltage controlled oscillator in Fig. 1, the phase shifter 3 can be used to change the phase value θ_β of the feedback circuit 6 so as to change the oscillation frequency.

[0035] The phase shifter 3 can consist of a -3dB90° hybrid coupler and a variable reactance circuit accompanying it. This allows large phase changes with low insertion loss and low return loss. Consequently, the voltage controlled oscillator can have a large variation range of frequencies and excellent frequency variation properties for the control voltage Vc. It can be used as a reference oscillator for communication network systems with a transmission rate over several gigabits/s.

[0036] Low insertion loss and low return loss lead to minimized circuit loss. Therefore, an efficient voltage controlled oscillator with reduced output fluctuations can be obtained. Furthermore, the equal power divider 5 equally distributes output power and supplies it outside the oscillation loop without interference with impedance within the oscillation loop. Therefore, a stable circuit operation is ensured for the load.

[0037] The SAW element 1, amplifier 2, phase shifter 3, phase adjustment circuit 4, and equal power divider 5 are disposed in multiple layers. The voltage controlled oscillator can still be downsized even though the phase shifter 3 and equal power divider 5 are provided, which require many parts and large mounting area. When the voltage controlled oscillator has an output frequency of several hundreds MHz and the phase shifter 3 and equal power divider 5 consist of lumped constant circuits, the entire circuit size can be small in spite of having a large number of parts.

[0038] When the voltage controlled oscillator has an output frequency of several GHz and the phase shifter 3 and equal power divider 5 consist of distributed constant circuits, the length and size of the transmission line hardly increases its mounting area and, therefore, the mounting board can remain small.

[0039] Fig. 3 is a block diagram to show the structure of the voltage controlled oscillator of Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Embodiment 2 uses a lumped constant circuit for the voltage controlled oscillator in Fig. 1.

[0040] In Fig. 3, an SAW element 11, a phase shifter 13, a phase adjustment circuit 14, and an equal power divider 15 are connected in series as a feedback loop between output and input of an amplifier 12 for oscillation. The blocks are all coupled to each other with a certain matching characteristic impedance of, for instance, 50 Ω. Here, the phase shifter 13 changes the phase value within the oscillation loop using the control voltage Vc supplied from an external source and is provided with -3dB90° hybrid coupler 13a and a additional control part 13b.

[0041] The -3dB90°hybrid coupler 13a is provided with capacitors C1-C4 and coils L1- L4. The coils L1-L4 are connected in loop. One plate of the capacitor C1 as well as output of the amplifier 12 are connected to the node between the coils L1 and L2. One plate of the capacitor C3 is connected to the node between the coils L2 and L3. One plate of the capacitor C4 is connected to the node between the coils L3 and L4. One plate of the capacitor C2 as well as the input of the phase adjustment circuit 14 are connected to the node between the coils L4 and L1. The other plates of the capacitors C1-C4 are connected to ground.

[0042] The additional control part 13b consists of a variable reactance circuit and is provided with capacitors C5-C8, coils L5, L6, resistors R1, R2, and variable capacitors A1, A2. The capacitor C5, coil L5, capacitor C6, resistor R1, resistor R2, capacitor C8, coil L6, and capacitor C7 are connected in series and in this sequence. The node between the capacitor C5 and the coil L5 is connected to the node between the capacitor C3 and coil L2 of the -3dB90°hybrid coupler 13a. The node between the capacitor C7 and the coil L6 is connected to the node between the capacitor C4 and coil L4 of the -3dB90° hybrid coupler 13a.

[0043] One end of the variable capacitor A1 is connected to the node between the capacitor C6 and the resistor R1 and one end of the variable capacitor A2 is connected to the node between the capacitor C8 and the resistor R2. The other ends of the variablecapacitorsA1 and A2 are connected to ground. The input terminal for control voltage Vc is provided between the resistors R1 and R2. The phase adjustment circuit 14 performs fine adjustment of the phase within the oscillation loop and is provided with a line N1 and a low pass filter 14a.

[0044] The low pass filter 14a is provided with capacitors C11, C12 and a coil L11. The capacitors C11 and C12 are connected to either side of the coil L11, respectively. The node between the capacitor C11 and the coil L11 is connected to the node between the capacitor C2 and coil L4 of the -3dB90° hybrid coupler 13a. The node between the capacitor C12 and the coil L11 is connected to the line N1.

[0045] The equal power divider 15 equally distributes output power within the oscillation loop, supplies it outside the oscillation loop and is provided with capacitors C21 C23, coils L21, L22, and a resistor R21. The capacitor C22, coil L21, coil L22, and capacitor C23 are connected in series and in this sequence. The capacitor C21 and the line N1 are both connected to the node between the coils L21 and L22. The output of the voltage controlled oscillator is connected to the node between the capacitor C22 and the coil L21. The input of the SAW element 11 is connected to the node between the capacitor C23 and the coil L22. The resistor R21 is connected between the output of the voltage controlled oscillator and the input of the SAW element 11.

[0046] With the voltage controlled oscillator in the form of a lumped parameter circuit, Embodiment 2 described above includes many parts. However, these parts are disposed in multiple layers for increased integration of the mounting parts, therefore downsizing the entire circuit (the entire circuit board size depends on the number and sizes of parts used).

[0047] With the voltage controlled oscillator in the form of a lumped constant circuit, passive parts start to exhibit self-resonance around the 1 GHz band. Therefore, this is not suitable for oscillators above the self-resonance frequency. Divergence in individual parts has significant influence on electric properties. Larger parts numbers are disadvantageous to reliability.

[0048] Fig. 4 is a circuit diagram to show another structure of the phase adjustment circuit of an embodiment of the present invention. A capacitor C41 and coils L41, L42 are shown In Fig. 4. The coils L41 and L42 are connected to either side of the capacitor C41, respectively. The circuit in Fig. 4 can be used to form a phase adjustment circuit in place of the low pass filter 14a in Fig. 3.

[0049] Such a phase adjustment circuit can be a distributed constant circuit. Fig. 5 is a block diagram to show the structure of the voltage controlled oscillator of Embodiment 3 of the present invention. Embodiment 3 is an embodiment of the voltage controlled oscillator in Fig. 1 in the form of a distributed constant circuit. In Fig. 5, an SAW element 21, a phase shifter 23, a phase adjustment circuit 24, and an equal power divider 25 are connected in series as a feedback loop between output and input of an amplifier 22 for oscillation. The blocks are all coupled to each other with a certain matching characteristic impedance of, for instance, 50Ω.

[0050] Here, the phase shifter 23 is provided with -3dB90° hybrid coupler 23a and a additional control part. The -3dB90° hybrid coupler 23a in Fig. 5 consists of a line N11 while the -3dB90° hybrid coupler 13a in Fig. 3 consists of the capacitors C1-C4 and coils L1-L4. The line N11 is connected in loop and has four terminals extended from it.

[0051] The first terminal of the line N11 is connected to the output terminal of the amplifier 22. The second terminal of the line N11 is connected to the input of the phase adjustment circuit 24. The third terminal of the line N11 is connected to the node between the capacitor C35 and coil L35 of the additional control part. The fourth terminal of the line N11 is connected to the node between the capacitor C37 and coil L36 of the additional control part.

[0052] The additional control part consists of a variable reactance circuit and is provided with capacitors C35-C38, coils L35, L36, resistors R31, R32, and variable capacitors A31, A32 as is in the structure in Fig. 3. The capacitor C35, coil L35, capacitor C36, resistor R31, resistor R32, capacitor C38, coil L36, and capacitor C37 are connected in series and in this sequence.

[0053] One end of the variable capacitor A31 is connected to the node between the capacitor C36 and the resistor R31 and one end of the variable capacitor A32 is connected to the node between the capacitor C38 and the resistor R32. The other ends of the variable capacitors are connected to ground. The input terminal for control voltage Vc is connected to the node between the resistors R31 and R32. The phase adjustment circuit 24 is provided with lines N21, N22. The line N21 serves as a low pass filter in the phase adjustment circuit 24 of Fig. 5 while the capacitors C11, C12 and coil L11 form a low pass filter 14a in the phase adjustment circuit 14 of Fig. 3

[0054] The equal power divider 25 is provided with lines N31, N32 and a resistor R33. The equal power divider 15 in Fig. 3 is provided with the capacitors C21-C23, coils L21, L22, and resistor R21 and is in the form of a lumped constant circuit. Here, in place of these elements, the equal power divider 25 in Fig. 5 uses the lines N31, N32 to form a distributed constant circuit.

[0055] Embodiment 3 described above illustrates the voltage controlled oscillator in the form of a distributed constant circuit. This allows a 50% reduction in total number of parts mounted on the board. For instance, the phase shifter 13 of Fig. 3 requires 18 parts. However, the parts number is reduced to 10 in the phase shifter 23 of Fig. 5.

[0056] The equal power divider 15 in Fig. 3 requires 6 parts while the equal power divider 25 in Fig. 5 requires 1 part. Reduced numbers of parts require less assembling time and lead to fewer possible defects. This promises an improved reliability and reduced production and parts cost.

[0057] Fig. 6 is a sectional view to schematically show the structure of the voltage controlled oscillator of Embodiment 4 of the present invention. In Fig. 6, the voltage controlled oscillator in Fig. 5 is mounted on a four-layer wiring board. The four-layer wiring board includes a first wiring layer H1, a second wiring layer H2, a third wiring layer H3, and a fourth wiring layer H4 as well as insulating layers Z1-Z3 in-between. The wiring layers H1-H4 are connected by means of a via hole B1 if necessary.

[0058] Here, the second and fourth wiring layers H2 and H4 are ground layers. The first and second wiring layers H1 and H2 form a microstrip line structure. The second, third, and fourth wiring layers H2, H3, and H4 form a strip line structure. Thus, the transmission line circuit consisting of a distributed constant structure that requires a substantial mounting area is formed on the lower layers with the strip line. Other mounting parts including chips that cannot be built in the board are formed on the upper layer with the microstrip line structure. Then, the transmission lines on the lower and upper layers are connected by means of the via holes B1.

[0059] The arrangement in which the lower layer of the multiple layer board has the strip line structure and the upper layer has the microstrip line structure, and the strip line and microstrip line structures are connected by means of the via holes B1 allows the downsizing of a distributed constant circuit, which otherwise requires a horizontally large mounting area. In practice, the mounting area can be reduced by one eighth compared to the voltage controlled oscillator having only the microstrip line structure on both sides of a board. The microstrip line structure on both sides of a board requires, for instance, a mounting area of 18x48=864mm². On the contrary, the four-layer board including the microstrip line and strip line structures in Fig. 6 requires only 10x10=100mm².

[0060] The size of the voltage controlled oscillator is primarily determined by the size of the strip line of the third wiring layer H3. Therefore, the third wiring layer H3 can be downsized to determine the entire size of the voltage controlled oscillator. The strip line structure underlies the microstrip line structure. This contributes to increased ground layers and enhanced mechanical strength of the circuit board.

[0061] The insulating layers Z1-Z3 of the multi-layer board can be made of a dielectric material such as glass epoxy resin, Teflon (registered trademark) resin, and alumina ceramics. The multi-layer board can have different dielectric constants in the respective layers. Microstrip line structures can be on both sides of the strip line structure.

[0062] Fig. 7 is a perspective view to show an exemplary structure of the voltage controlled oscillation in Fig. 6. In Fig. 7, the voltage controlled oscillator in Fig. 5 is mounted on a four-layer wiring board.

[0063] The four-layer wiring board includes a first wiring layer H1, a second wiring layer H2, a third wiring layer H3, and a fourth wiring layer H4 as well as insulating layers Z1-Z3 in-between. The insulating layers Z1-Z3 are provided with via holes B11-B15 for connecting the wiring layers H1-H4 as required.

[0064] Here, the second wiring layer H2 is used as a ground layer G1 and the fourth wiring layers H4 is used as a ground layer G2. The first and second wiring layers H1 and H2 form a microstrip line structure. The second, third, and fourth wiring layers H2, H3, and H4 form a strip line structure. Thus, the surface acoustic element 21 and amplifier 22 are mounted on the first wiring layer H1 having the microstrip line structure and so is a chip element including the capacitors C35-C38, coils L35, L36, resistors R31, R32, and variable capacitors A31, A32.

[0065] The third wiring layer H3 having the strip line structure, forms the line N11 of the -3dB90° hybrid coupler 23a in Fig. 5 and the lines N31, N32 of the equal power divider 25. For the voltage controlled oscillator in the form of a distributed constant circuit, the arrangement in which the line N11 of the -3dB90° hybrid coupler 23a and the lines N31, N32 of the equal power divider 25, which occupy a large area, are formed by the third wiring layer H3. The surface acoustic element 21, amplifier 22, and chip element P, which cannot be built in the board, are formed on the first wiring layer H1, preventing the horizontal extension of the lines N11, N31, and N32 on the first wiring layer H1, and leading to the downsizing of the voltage controlled oscillator.

[0066] Fig. 8 is a top view to show the detailed structure of the third conductive layer in Fig. 7.

[0067] In Fig. 8, the line N11 of the -3dB90°hybrid coupler 23a and the lines N31, N32 of the equal power divider 25 in Fig. 5 are formed by the third wiring layer H3 having a strip line structure.

[0068] Here, the lines N11, N31, and N32, which are required to have certain lengths and sizes to obtain the desired properties of the voltage controlled oscillator, are bent in a manner that the convex and concave parts are nested into each other within the plane of the third wiring layer.

[0069] The lines N11, N31, and N32 can be formed by a etching copper film deposited on the insulating layer Z3. The copper film pattern on the insulating layer Z3 can be modified so that the third wiring layer H3 has a smaller area as a result of the lines N11, N31, and N32 being bent.

[0070] The size of the voltage controlled oscillator primarily depends on the area of the third wiring layer H3. Therefore, giving the third wiring layer H3 a smaller area, the entire voltage controlled oscillator will be smaller. With the lines N11, N31, and N32 being bent in a pattern that causes no interference with one another, the voltage controlled oscillator can be further downsized.

[0071] The bending and pattern of rectangular convex and concave bends of the lines N11, N31, and N32 are described with the strip line structure above. However, it is applicable to the microstrip line structure as well. Fig. 9 (a) is a sectional view to schematically show the structure of the voltage controlled oscillator of Embodiment 5 of the present invention. Embodiment 5 adds a underlying fifth wiring layer to the four-layer wiring board in Fig. 6 to give an additional microstrip line structure.

[0072] In Fig. 9 (a), the five-layer wiring board includes a first wiring layer H11, a second wiring layer H12, a third wiring layer H13, a fourth wiring layer H14, and a fifth wiring layer H15 as well as insulating layers Z11-Z14 in-between. The wiring layers H11-H15 are connected by means of a via holes B21 as required. The second and fourth wiring layers H12 and H14 are ground layers. The first and second wiring layers H11 and H12 form of a microstrip line structure. The second, third, and fourth wiring layers H12, H13, and H14 form of a strip line structure. The fourth and fifth wiring layers H14 and H15 form of a microstrip line structure.

[0073] Embodiment 5 described above has the fifth wiring layer H15 underlying the fourth wiring layer H4. This allows the third and fifth wiring layers H13 and H15 to share the ground layer formed by the fourth wiring layer H14. This one additional wiring layer enables the addition of a microstrip line structure.

[0074] Fig. 9 (b) is a sectional view to schematically show the structure of the voltage controlled oscillator of Embodiment 6 of the present invention. Embodiment 6 adds underlying fifth and sixth wiring layers to the four-layer board in Fig. 6 to give an additional strip line structure. In Fig. 9 (b), the six-layer wiring board includes a first wiring layer H21, a second wiring layer H22, a third wiring layer H23, a fourth wiring layer H24, a fifth wiring layer H25, and a sixth wiring layer H26 as well as insulating layers Z21-Z25 in-between. The wiring layers H21-H26 are connected with a plurality of via holes (B31, B32) as required.

[0075] The second, fourth, and sixth wiring layers H22, H24 and H26 are ground layers. The first and second wiring layers H21 and H22 form of a microstrip line structure. The second, third, and fourth wiring layers H22, H23, and H24 form of a strip line structure. The fourth, fifth, and sixth wiring layers H24, H25, and H26 form of a strip line structure.

[0076] In this way, the mounting area can be reduced for relatively large-scale distributed constant circuits, realizing a downsized circuit board. The insulating layers Z11-Z14 and Z21-Z25 used in the multi-layer boards can be made of a (dielectric) material such as glass epoxy resin, Teflon (registered trademark) resin, and alumina ceramics. The multi-layer board can have different dielectric constants in the respective layers.

[0077] Fig. 10 is a block diagram to show the structure of the communication device of Embodiment 7 of the present invention. Embodiment 7 is an example of a gigabit network systems in which the voltage controlled oscillator in Fig. 1 is used. With increased use of the internet, the gigabit network system deals with motion image data besides voice and still image data.

[0078] Motion image data volume is much larger than still image data . It can be several hundred megabytes to several gigabytes. For smooth transfer of this large volume data between computers, the network system connecting computers should be capable of high speed transfer. The network system may have a data transmission rate of several gigabits/s to several tens gigabits/s.

[0079] In Fig. 10, a data access control part 101 is connected to a transmission part 102 and a receiver part 103. Optical signals from the transmission part 102 are supplied to the receiver part 103 via an optical fiber 104. The transmission part 102 is provided with an oscillator 111, a PLL control part 112, an encoder 113, a serializer 114, and a laser diode 115.

[0080] The receiver part 103 is provided with a photodiode 121, a voltage controlled oscillator 122, a clock data recovery 123, a deserializer 124, and a decoder 125. The data access control part 101 supplies original parallel data to the transmission part 102. Receiving the parallel data, the transmission part 102 uses the encoder 113 to encode and merge them with synchronous clock generated by the oscillator 111 and PLL control part 112.

[0081] The merged parallel data is converted into serial data by the serializer 114. A laser beam from the laser diode 115 is modulated by the serial data. The modulated laser beam is transmitted through the optical fiber 104. The modulated and transmitted light through the optical fiber 104 is supplied to the receiver part 103. Arriving at the receiver part, the modulated light is received by the photodiode 121, which converts it into electric signals.

[0082] The electric signals include data and a synchronous clock. The clock data recovery 123 extracts and reproduces the data and synchronous clock. Here, the clock data recovery 123 functions by means of output signals from the voltage controlled oscillator 122. The voltage controlled oscillator 122 can have, for instance, the structure in Fig. 5.

[0083] The serial data reproduced by the clock data recovery 123 is converted into parallel data by the deserializer 124. The parallel data from the deserializer 124 is decoded by the decoder 125. The original parallel data reproduced and received is supplied to the data access control part 101.

[0084] The voltage control oscillator 122 having the structure in Fig. 5 and being implemented as multi-layered structure as is shown in Fig. 7 can be used to downsize the receiver part 103 while satisfying basic properties of the receiver part 103.

[0085] As is described above, the present invention can prevent an increase in mounting area and allow a larger frequency tuning range of the voltage controlled oscillator. It can provide excellent frequency tuning properties for the control voltage. The present invention realizes a low insertion loss and a low return loss, which leads to a minimized circuit loss and limited output fluctuations, ensuring a stable circuit operation for the load.

Claims

1. A voltage controlled oscillator comprising an amplifier (2, 12, 22); a surface acoustic wave element (1, 11, 21) for forming a feedback circuit for the amplifier (2, 12, 22); a phase adjustment circuit (4, 14, 24) consisting of a filter and interposed in the feedback circuit; a phase shifter (3, 13, 23) consisting of a hybrid coupler (13a, 23a) to which an additional control part (13b) is connected for changing the phase value within the oscillation loop based on a control voltage supplied from an external source; an equal power divider (5, 15, 25) for equally distributing output power within the oscillation loop and supplying it outside the oscillation loop; and a multi-layer board for mounting the amplifier (2, 12, 22), surface acoustic wave element (1, 11, 21), phase adjustment circuit (4, 14, 24), phase shifter (3, 13, 23), and equal power divider (5, 15, 25) in at least two separate layers.

2. The oscillator according to Claim 1 wherein the multi-layer board is provided with: a micro strip line structure consisting of a first wiring layer (H1) and a second wiring layer (H2); and a strip line structure consisting of the second wiring layer (H2), a third wiring layer (H3), and a fourth wiring layer (H4).

3. The oscillator according to Claim 2 wherein the second and fourth wiring layers (H2, H4) are ground layers.

4. The oscillator according to Claim 2 or 3 wherein the amplifier (2, 12, 22), surface acoustic wave element (1, 11, 21), additional control part (13b), and phase adjustment circuit (4, 14, 24) are provided on the micro strip line structure; and the hybrid coupler (13a, 23a) and equal power divider (5, 15, 25) are provided on the strip line structure.

5. The oscillator according to Claim 4 wherein the hybrid coupler (13a, 23a) and equal power divider (5, 15, 25) are formed by the strip line structure have a transmission line rectangularly bent.

6. The oscillator according to Claim 5 wherein the convex rectangular bends are nested in concave rectangular bends.

7. The oscillator according to Claim 1 wherein the multi-layer board is provided with: a micro strip line structure consisting of a first wiring layer (H11) and a second wiring layer (H12); a strip line structure consisting of the second wiring layer (H12), a third wiring layer (H13), and a fourth wiring layer (H14); and a micro strip line structure consisting of the fourth wiring layer (H14) and a fifth wiring layer (H15).

8. The oscillator according to Claim 7 wherein the second and fourth wiring layers (H12, H14) are ground layers.

9. The oscillator according to Claim 1 wherein the multi-layer board is provided with: a micro strip line structure consisting of a first wiring layer (H21) and a second wiring layer (H22); a strip line structure consisting of the second wiring layer (H22), a third wiring layer (H23), and a fourth wiring layer (H24); and a strip line structure consisting of the fourth wiring layer (H24), a fifth wiring layer (H25), and a sixth wiring layer (H26).

10. The oscillator according to Claim 9 wherein the second, fourth, and sixth wiring layers (H22, H24, H26) are ground layers.

11. A receiver comprising: a photodiode (121) for converting optical signals into electric signals; a clock data recovery (123) for extracting data and synchronous signals from the electric signals; a deserializer (124) for converting serial data extracted by the clock data recovery (123) into parallel data; a decoder (125) for decoding the parallel data, and a voltage controlled oscillator (122) according to any one of the preceding claims to operate the clock data recovery (123).

12. A communication device comprising: an accesses control part for controlling data access; an oscillator (111) for generating synchronous clocks; a PLL control part for controlling the frequencies based on the outputs from the oscillator (111); an encoder (113) for combining and encoding parallel data from the access control part and the synchronous clocks; a serializer (114) for converting the parallel data combined with the synchronous clocks into serial data; a laser diode for converting the serial data into optical signals; a photodiode (121) for converting the optical signals into electric signals;
   a clock data recovery (123) for extracting the data and synchronous signals from the electric signals; a deserializer (124) for converting serial data extracted by the clock data recovery (123) into parallel data; a decoder (125) for decoding and supplying the parallel data to the access control part, and a voltage controlled oscillator (122) according to any one of claims 1 to 10 for providing signals to operate the clock data recovery (123).

Drawing